As I've mentioned, Musicals are my escape. Right now, I am binge-watching Glee. There are some issues with Glee from a Feminist Eye perspective. Two cliché teen pregnancy plots, one that leads to adoption and the other simply a pregnancy scare. The slutty boys (and let's face it, if they were female characters they would be called sluts) who slept with the girls only to have one punishment for being slutty, get the girls pregnant or almost pregnant and perhaps losing the girl. Which, in most cases, doesn't really harm the boys. It's the girls who become outcasts, harassed, called sluts, etc. As if girls are responsible for getting themselves pregnant by immaculate conception. 

Then there is the bully, Coach Sue, whose punishment fluctuates throughout the show but ultimately ends on a high note. She becomes the principal only by planting incriminating items to oust the current principal. And then, in the "5-years-later" plot, is the Vice President? How does that show that bullies are the bad ones?

However, two moments stand out to me the most. This is because of a double standard. When a female and male character are put into similar situations, the reaction and dialogue differ, and, as is common, it favors the man. Let's break down the situations.

Musicals are my escape. When the world feels crazy, I dive in and have them playing in the background while I work. And, well...the world is crazy right now. I like musicals in all forms, movies, live recordings, and TV shows. Right now, I am watching Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. I'm on season 2, episode 6, Zoey's Extraordinary Reckoning. 

This episode tackles the issue of racial bias in the tech industry, specifically on the lack of representation and the experiences of BIPOC employees. It focuses on Simon, a black man who heads up the marketing team at SPRQ Point. In the previous episode, Simon called out the company's blind spots. In this episode, the board wants him to retract his statement cause they feel he's the only one experiencing this. That is until Tobin, an Indian man on the coding team, posts his experience on social media, prompting BIPOC employees worldwide to come forward with their stories.

It's a great topic to tackle on the show and one that should have been. But here's the thing, the show overlooked one opportunity: Women in Technology.

And the entertainment industry needs to stop using it as a plot point. There are other ways to traumatize a woman without resorting to Rape.

*Trigger Warning*

Case in point: My husband and I have been doing a Star Trek movie marathon. I hadn't seen the originals as I became a Trekkie with TNG, so we figured why not. The other day, we watched ​Star Trek: Nemesis. There is a scene where Troi and Riker are making love and the bad guy invades her mind psychically raping her. The scene was meant to divulge the psych ability of the enemy that she then later uses to locate their cloaked shipped. There was no reason the scene needed to be that violent, it didn't push her character forward and it didn't add to the plot. It was a detail that could have been discovered in a less dramatic but still traumatizing way.

Having babies. This is the statement I heard on a season 1 episode of Quantum Leap (the 1989 version).

Every once in a while, I like to revisit old shows I watched as a kid. It's nostalgic, and as an adult, I take the time to analyze them and perhaps see them for what they are. I'm currently doing that with Quantum Leap. I was 10 when it came out.

I'm on Episode 5: How the Tess was one. Let's set the scene for this annoying statement: Tess is an accomplished cowgirl whose father, Chance, pushes her to marry a cowboy and inherit his 50,000-acre ranch. Tess is adamantly opposed to marriage but agrees to marry any man who can beat her in a cowboy contest. She picks Sam. The challenges are roping and wrangling cattle, poker, and pole digging.